Scripture: Mark 14: 61 & 62 “Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Observation: It’s “crunch” time! Jesus, by His own confession, declares to the religious powers of the day that He is, indeed, their long-promised & long-awaited Messiah! He’s not what they were expecting – so they missed Him! He’s brought before them, a humble, poor carpenter – who has been seen as a threat to their power base because the people flock to Him as He heals & teaches. And what He says both confirms their fears, yet is also so contrary to what the evidence of their eyes must see. He doesn’t look as though He is the right material to be seated at the right hand of the Father – in the “seat of power”!! They really didn’t know what to make of him, and so they killed him – yet it was all part of the Father’s amazing plan to save even those very ones who demanded Jesus’ death!!
Application: How do I respond to this much-needed yet most unexpected – perhaps even unpredictable - Saviour? This One who is the Son of God, yet knows what it is to walk in the shoes of a humble carpenter? Who knows what it’s like to “do life” as we humans “do life”, yet is seated (as He claimed) in the place of power at the right hand of the Father? I am so glad that I have responded to Him in surrender. Yet I cannot think that He is any less unpredictable or unexpected than He was when He walked on the earth. I cannot think that I have Him “all sewn up” in my perceptions. Here is God – whom I can know, whom I do know, yet am still growing in knowing! His unpredictability doesn’t mean that He might be angry with me one moment and loving the next, that I cannot be secure in His love for me. Quite the opposite. His unpredictability or unexpectedness lies in the fact that, even though I know He is always good & always loving, yet He is the Creator of the Universe & He has a bigger picture than I do – of everything!! That all things that happen in this world will not necessarily reflect His goodness, but will often reflect the evil of human choices made without reference to Him and His ways. Yet His promise – as seen at the cross – is that He will use those things to bring good! To bring hope. To bring life. And that’s where I need to keep my eyes focussed when the world is accusing and it appears that all is lost, as it appeared in this moment in Jesus’ time on earth.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Thankyou for the gift of your Son who willingly died for me that I might come to the place of knowing you! Lord, I surrender afresh to You today – without fear of what this day or the days to come might hold, but re-affirmed in my confidence in You - that You are always good & always loving & will bring all things together for my good. My security is in You and Your love for me. Not in circumstances or earthly things. Forgive me for those times when I have allowed the fears of this world to take hold of my heart. Lord, I recognise that I cannot have all things “sewn up” as I would like them to be – but that You know the end from the beginning, and that Your purposes will be brought about, and in that alone I can rest! You are so good, Lord!! In Jesus’ name. Amen
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